I've had an e550G for about a month now...
Same old resolution 320x240. -Yep.
Dust forming on some units. -Yep, sadly. It's annoying - a small clump right in the center of the screen. Like there's a static buildup there or something.
Auto-Dim feature restricts frontlight to level of battery. -Yep, again. It's not a huge pain, but it's annoying.
Below average battery life. -Yep. 3 hours average.
Recessed button makes it tought to game on it. -Sometimes. Depends on the game. I've managed to deal with it, but it's not optimal.
Only available at CompUSA, limited support. -There's about as much support for this as any other PPC except maybe the iPAQ (more, really, than models like the Maestro, E-200, etc). Sleeves, styli, lots of stuff available through Audiovox.
But yes, it's far from perfect. The screen is also not the brightest around -- about on a par with the e740, maybe a little less bright. Evenly lit, though. On the plus side, the video performance is supposedly the best of the XScale models, the screen IS huge and great to watch movies on, the dual slots are impressive on a device so thin and the Home launcher is pretty impressive. Oh, and it has two swappable control pads - a bumpy rounded one and a disc with raised edge. I find the latter best for most games.
One strangely cool thing I thought was particularly nifty -- you can set it to auto-backup (to card) at regularly scheduled times (weekly or daily) so you don't ever have to worry about losing anything if it hard resets. I have mine backup every morning at 5am.
I give it an 8 out of 10. With a better battery, no dust and brighter screen it'd be just about perfect.
b
